Pat Hickey: Canadiens should deal No. 3 pick in package for top centre

Czech Republic forward Filip Zadina celebrates his goal against Canada during the first period of a semifinal in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship on Jan. 4, 2018, in Buffalo. Jeffrey T. Barnes / AP

In the moments after the Canadiens moved up to the No. 3 spot in the NHL draft lottery on Saturday night, general manager Marc Bergevin discussed the options leading up to the June 23 entry draft.

“At No. 3, you get a player (from the draft) that’s probably going to play sooner than later,” said Bergevin, who went on to concede that he might be willing to trade the pick. “Anything’s possible, but you suffer a lot to get that pick, so it has to be a pretty good offer to move that pick.”

There should be no debate. If the Canadiens are hoping for a quick turnaround, Bergevin must explore all options to plug the gaping hole at centre and the first option should be to see what’s available via a trade.

Throughout his Canadiens tenure, Bergevin has preached the importance of building through the draft, of picking the best player available with few concessions to the team’s needs.

The results have been underwhelming. The roster includes only three bona fide NHL players who were drafted by the Canadiens in the first round — Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk. Three other first-rounders — Noah Juulsen, Nikita Scherbak and Michael McCarron — are still trying to prove themselves, with only Juulsen standing out so far.

There is a built-in excuse because the Canadians have often been drafting late in the first round but, with the exception of the very top picks, the draft remains a crapshoot as all teams try to project the future development of 17-year-olds who are more familiar with a stick blade than a razor blade.

Bergevin is right when he says the No. 3 spot should produce a pick who’s going to play, but there are no high-end centres — most scouts have Drummondville QMJHL star Joe Veleno outside the top 10 — and the talent level for defencemen falls off after consensus No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin of Sweden. The various mock drafts have the Canadiens looking at wingers Filip Zadina, a Czech playing for Halifax in the QMJHL, or Brady Tkachuk from Boston University.

Zadina, a 6-foot, 196-pounder, had 44 goals and 82 points in 57 games for the Mooseheads, while Tkachuk, a 6-foot-3, 196-pounder, had eight goals and 31 points in 40 games as a freshman at BU. Those are good numbers but consider that, in his draft year, Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin had 41 goals and 105 points in only 49 games with the Mooseheads and Sabres star Jack Eichel produced 26 goals and 71 points in his freshman year at Boston University.

It’s difficult to imagine Zadina or Tkachuk having an immediate impact in the NHL, particularly in Montreal where the culture is risk averse when it comes to hastening a player’s development. And, if they did crack the lineup, there’s no indication they would address the team’s top priority, which is to score more goals.

Bergevin’s task would be simpler — and there would be less pressure to hit a home run in the draft — if there were some assurances that New York Islanders impending unrestricted-free-agent centre John Tavares could be lured to Montreal. It’s almost certain Tavares will escape from the dysfunctional situation in New York and the word is that the Canadiens are prepared to open the vault for Tavares. But there will be more attractive offers for Tavares, who is looking for a chance to play hockey in May and June.

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With no other standout UFAs — the list of available centres includes 38-year-old Joe Thornton, Paul Stastny, Tyler Bozak and former Canadien Tomas Plekanec — and no NHL-ready centres in the draft, a trade remains the only solution to finding a top-end centre. There are players out there and the challenge is to put together the right package with the No. 3 pick as the key component. If the deal has to include Pacioretty, so be it. It will be difficult to part with a perennial 30-goal scorer who loves to play in this city. And it’s sad that, on a team that has some players who don’t care enough, Pacioretty struggled last season because he cares too much.

The good news for Bergevin is that he doesn’t have any thorny free-agency issues as he did last summer with Alex Radulov and Andrei Markov. And, with the salary cap going up, he’ll have plenty of money to throw at free agents even with star goalie Carey Price getting a hefty $4-million raise to US$10.5 million a season. The hope is he has learned that if you keep some money for a rainy day, you might find yourself in a position where you have to clean up after a flood.

Bergevin might have been right when he said there was nothing left after the first round of free-agent dealing last summer but, in hindsight, it might have made sense to use the $1 million he gave Mark Streit to sweeten his lowball offer to Markov.

As for the rest of the off-season, Canadiens fans have nothing to do but to cheer for P.K. Subban and the Nashville Predators while hoping that Price figures out what ails him, Shea Weber leaves his motorized wheelchair and that a knee injury is the least of Andrew Shaw’s worries.

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